Chilling out

Now the first official day of fall was last week; it was met with 90-degree temps. However, last night a cold front blew through and brought Oklahoma our first taste of fall

Oh, happy day! I love autumn! I like being able to wear long sleeves and light sweaters. I’m happiest in a light sweater, blue jeans, and sneakers or my Docs. I actually got to wear long sleeves to work today. (doing best pregnant happy dance I can) I also like the breeze and the colors of the leaves turning in the trees. I love the crisp feeling in the air when I walk outside in the morning. What I would really love to do is move my swing out to the back patio (need to raise and expand that concrete slab). Then I could go outside on a weekend morning and just swing for a little bit with a cup of coffee and just be. We will get there eventually (hopefully next year).

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 75, with a high of 75 on Saturday. The warmest it is supposed to be over the next week is 87 on Monday. That’s actually surprising, as I just knew it would remain in the 90s until the baby arrived.

So here’s my question for the day? What is your favorite season and why?

And the countdown begins

I had my last 2 week appointment with my OB today. I'm now down to every week, and I only have three of those babies before the big scheduled day (if things progress according to plan). Everything is looking good and is normal. Even the wicked braxton hicks I had last night.

Last night, I started having braxton hicks (pretty uncomfortable ones) on the way home. They started around 96th St. N and continued most of the evening. I felt like carp! (Yes, I felt like carp which is a polite way of saying crap or whatever else you would like to substitute there.) I essentially ate dinner and then went to the bedroom to lie down and veg in front of the TV. I didn't even work on tax homework last night which means I have a lot to do tonight and tomorrow before Saturday's class. Well, M could obviously tell I wasn't feeling well last night, so I had to go lie down with him so he would go to sleep. He fell asleep quickly, but every time I got up, he woke up. I tried 7 different times. Finally around 12:30, I told him to go potty, grab his pillow, and come get in bed with B & I.

Did I mention that I also am either fighting allergies or I have a cold? I think it's the later and my colleagues have given it to me. UGH! I'm sniffling so bad. I feel like I have med head which I can't have med head because I can't take anything.

My boss finally let me know who she wanted me to train as a second backup today. I think she'll be able to cover when GIT shows up late or doesn't show up at all just fine. She might have to call, but that's ok. She's a very smart cookie! Thank goodness because I was so stressing about GIT's lack of reliability.

On the home front, M asked if he could bring Hermione to T-town yesterday. Mom agreed. Well, it turns out that Hermione can now fetch. She also never went in the house yesterday (she hasn't at home either, but you have to really watch her when she is in.) I guess I need to start looking into training her on other things as well. She's definitely the addition we wanted.

Well, I just remembered I have some verbage to review for my boss, so I had better get back to work.

Not fair..bwasted heb colb

So what I thought might have been allergies (ok what I had hoped was just allergies), I now KNOW is a blasted cold. Thanks a lot to my colleagues for passing this carp on to me. I'm sitting here right now...nose red, runny nose *sniffle*, watery eyes, med head feeling and know it's a blasted cold.

The bad thing is that I have a sorority meeting on Sunday and it's at S's house. S has a 3 month old baby. I can't be there with a 3 month old if this is still going on. I can't find my cheat sheet for meds that my doctor approves during pregnancy, so, I'm posting on some BBs that I frequent for moms to see if anyone knows. I guess I'm going to have to call him tomorrow if I can't figure out something that I CAN take.

Oy vey! *ACHOO!!!!*

What a day!

I received an email from one of my sorority sister’s today containing a commercial for condoms. This commercial is of a dad who is grocery shopping with his son. The son wants a bag of candy and the dad says no. The commercial proceeds to show the son throwing a huge temper tantrum in the store with everyone looking on. The commercial ends with “Use condoms.” I could relate to this today.

Now I love M more than I thought I could ever love a human being. However, this morning was a bad morning for M. B woke M up and made him go potty. While M was in the restroom, B picked up some of M’s toys and put them in M’s bag to take to Memaw’s house. Well, M went into the bedroom and threw a fit and then dumped the bag of toys into the floor. (Did I mention that my son has apparently inherited my love of mornings? I actually own a nightshirt that says, “Smiling, happy morning people are evil and must be destroyed.”)

Well, the punishment for M’s tantrum and behavior was that he couldn’t take any of his toys to Memaw’s today. Now he has toys at Memaw’s, of course, he just couldn’t take any of his Star Wars diecast replicas with him. B left for work while I finished getting ready (just had to brush my teeth and feed the puppy). M threw a fit up until we got to QT for gasoline. He drank his chocolate milk and then fell asleep during the car ride to Tulsa. He then proceeded on his tirade again when he woke up at my mother’s. I finally had to discipline him again because my patience was gone by then.

Well I come into work knowing that we still had three settlements outstanding today. We also had to have our final numbers into treasury before 9. Well, as usual, whenever there is a critical deadline, GIT came strolling in at 9:30. I have refrained from getting anywhere near her and I refuse to talk in more than 5 word sentences to her because (1) she’s been sick and I do NOT need to be sick at 9 months and (2) if I do talk to her I am going to lose my temper.

I also was supposed to meet with auditors today so I rushed this morning to get everything done in record time so I would have the day free. They have yet to appear. By the time I looked up when I finished with the things that HAD to be done today, it was 11 and I was winded from all the running, copying, phone calls, etc.

I would have delegated part of it to GIT, but it has to be done…today…at a certain time…and well you know the rest. So, I have one hour to go, and I’m so ready to get the heck out of Dodge. I’ll go home tonight and watch the final episode of Big Brother and continue working on my tax homework. Fun, huh?

Another Monday

Well, GIT did show up on a Monday for a change (insert gasp here). However, she immediately set out complaining that not everything for her desk was covered while she was out. Well join the club sister!

So I talked with my supervisor and she agreed that I did need to train a second backup for while I am out because GIT is the most unreliable person I've ever met. I would call that a victory, but that denotes that it is a good thing and her being unreliable and my having to train another person is not a good thing in my eyes. So we will see...

Surprises

Well, I came in today to find that GIT had once again called in. Now, that doesn’t come as a surprise, because it is the busiest time of the month for my desk and the other piece she is covering of the other desk as well. She ALWAYS seems to miss critical days and I’m glad to know I’m not the only one getting sick of it. There has been plenty of ranting and raving going on from my co-workers this morning.

According to my boss, she is actually sick, and I’m glad she’s not in the office because her diagnosis is contagious. However, it was awfully nice of you to call me and leave a voice mail so I know that I need to cover my job area for the analysts. It was also awfully nice of you to call your other co-workers and let them know what needed to be done today while you are out. So, I did all the necessary verifications and got the analysts ready to do their settlements. Now, I am going to help out my boss by emptying her boxes into her drawers and locking them up since we moved yesterday.

I guess I am a pretty sick ticket because I find it mildly amusing and ironic that I not only unboxed my office and put things in the file cabinets, as they needed to be, I did hers as well. Pretty pathetic on her part, huh?

Well, I picked up M’s surprise yesterday. We got M a Labrador Retriever puppy. Our first attempt at a family dog failed miserably. We got an Alaskan Malamute (B had raised and bred them so he was familiar with the dogs), but we got Godric too late and we had missed the socialization period for puppies. He had not been socialized. He was very skittish around anyone and really needed a family with older kids and adults that could work with him a lot. The SPCA hooked us up with a family with a lot of acreage and older kids and we gave Godric away.

Well, we did just fine this time. The puppy has been socialized and to top it off, she does lovely riding in cars. Thank goodness, because I had to make the drive home from Tulsa with her and M in the car. She just laid on the blanket, let M pet her, and went to sleep.

The only bad thing is that her owners apparently did not groom her very well because she had so many fleas. The poor thing! So we gave her a bath in puppy shampoo with a flea dip in it, and she still had a lot of fleas. I called the veternarian this morning to find out what to do and B is going by to pick up the necessary items. We are going to have to do the Frontline puppy formula and then there is also a 24 hr. pill called Capstar that you can give to the animal. It is supposed to last for 24 hours and kill all living fleas on her body. It is also supposed start working within 30 minutes. Let’s pray it works.

So the other important task last night was to pick out a name for our puppy girl. While I tried to deter the name to a simple two-syllable name, the verdict is that she will be named Hermione. (If you are smart, you will know how we arrived at that name. LOL!)

We think that Hermione is adjusting very well to her new home. While the dog is meant to be a companion for M, I think she's adopted me as her primary caregiver. I went out to feed her this morning to find that she was raring to play tug-o-war with me. In addition, last night, she was curled up in my lap while we waited for B to get back from the with the shampoo. (We'd already bought stuff to bathe her with but we didn't have anything for the fleas.) I'm glad she's so gentle and loving…that’s just what we were looking for. I promise I will post pics of Hermione and M very soon. I want to take care of the fleas first though.

Well, I’d better grab lunch and then it’s off to do the unpacking of the central files for my analysts.

Twiddling my thumbs

Well, I came in today to a voice mail from GIT. She is sick (yeah, right), and she asked if I would prepare the estimate for this month's cash flow. Uh, why not? You've missed at least one important day in the few months you have been here. Why would this be any different? And BTW, I'm not buying the hacking, soft-toned, whiny voice mail one bit.

Our office move is today, so we have basically packed everything and we are sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting on the movers. My boss has told us to leave when they show up (afternoon off with pay, dudes!). The only thing is that I have to hang out in the city until later because I'm going to pick up M's big surprise (more on that later). I think I'll hit some consignment shops while I'm waiting.

Pain in the back side

The last few days, anytime the kid moves or I have a braxton-hicks contraction, I get this irritating shooting pain up my back (spinal cord area) up to my neck. By the time the day is through, I am a mass of knots. So I asked the experiences of some of my girlfriends who told me I should call the doctor (and I promise I will if it keeps persisting). I did talk to my mom about it today who told that she did this when the baby was getting ready to engage. I'm thinking she's right because it's almost like the baby is on a nerve. It's one of those days when I would kill to be able to take an Excedrin Tension headache.

GIT update

Once again, GIT was late on Monday. She made her appearance around noon. Luckily it wasn't a busy day.

We are moving offices this week to another floor which means we have all had to box up our office for the movers. Well, I was basically told by GIT that she would help (read do it for me) because I didn't need to be packing my office.

I wasn't in a good mood anyway due to other issues, and I finally snapped. I went off on her.

I said, "You know, things are not the same as they were in your day. My OB has not put any restrictions on me except to say don't do what I don't think my body will allow me not to do. I'm pregnant; I'm not an invalid. If I think it's too much, I won't do it. I lift a 50 lb. toddler everyday. I think I can box up my office."

I kind of felt bad afterwards for going off, but I also kind of felt good b/c that has so needed to be said for months now. She did apologize quickly but I was just so sick of the "Are you oks?" that her comment was the final straw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are also getting ready to gear up for our busy time again and two of those busy days fall right in line with the move dates (tomorrow and Friday). So I made sure to give her a heads up to get things done first thing when she gets in to eliminate issues. I also told her that this month she is on her own. I will answer questions, but I'm going to make her think through the process rather than answering her directly, KWIM? Wish us luck.

You broke my heart

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days. (I'll be playing catch up on posts so be aware.)

Sunday, I was working on some stuff while waiting for B to get back from his step-brother's. I flipped through the channels and found that All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 was on. Well, M LOVES 1, so I thought I would let him watch 2. Well, I didn't realize that the underlying theme is about a missing boy that is taken care of by the dogs. The boy actually ran away from home because his mother is pregnant.

Well, after the show is over, M crawled up into my lap and gave me a big hug and kiss. He then put his hands on my face and pulled me close and asked, "Mommy, you'll still love me when the baby comes, right?"

I about lost it right there. I pulled him close, kissed him on his forehead, and assured him that I loved him that I will love him always and no one will ever take his place. I snuggled with him while I tried to regain my composure.

One of my friends said that he is wise beyond his years. I think she's right.

The alarm clock

So, this morning I woke up before the alarm. I looked over at the clock which read "3:32 AM." UGH! Of course, I had to go the the restroom, so I got up and came back to find M in my spot. He was already in bed with us (having gotten in sometime during the course of the night). Rather than move him, I just attempted to straighten him up in the bed. He was lying somewhat sideways.

Well, I had trouble going back to sleep by this time because, of course, the baby is up and moving. So I laid there watching M sleep and resisting the urge to pull him up close to my chest and snuggle with him. I wanted to snuggle with him so badly, but my belly and the huge body pillow that I am having to sleep with wedged under my belly didn't allow me to do so. I resigned myself to playing with his hair for a while and listening to his content sighs.

I looked over at the clock again and it was 4:30. It was apparent that I was wide awake and would be unable to go back to sleep so I just got up. I got the clothes out of the dryer, moved the towels over from the washer, and started my morning routine. I was finished by 6 so I pulled a T-shirt onto M, carried him to the bathroom to potty, and then we left for Tulsa. I got to work at 7.

Well now it's almost 9 am and I'm so tired. It's going to be a long day.

It doesn't help that we are doing office moves and I need to go through files and throw stuff away and box stuff up. *yawn* Like I said, it's going to be a long day.

Miss Hannigan?

I never thought I bore a resemblance to Miss Hannigan (think Annie here) until this morning. I woke M up for the day and made him to go the bathroom first thing. On his way to the bathroom, M proceeded to stomp on my foot with his heel because he was mad at me.

OUCH!

I had flashbacks to Annie as I stood there holding and rubbing the point of contact on my foot (which was probably quite a funny sight with my pregnant self). I told B about it; I guess he did it last week to B. Thanks for the heads up!

GIT charting the way?

I just don’t get it. I’m sure you know one of those people that can do just about anything and get away with it. Of course, you think to yourself, “If that were me, I would have already fill in the blank.” You try to rationalize to yourself how things can come so easily to them and you just hurt your brain by trying to wrap yourself around the whole ordeal.

It’s the same way with GIT. Once again, GIT called in the day after a weekend. She again had a “doctor appointment.” She showed up around 10. I’m trying to take a very hands off approach with her because she’s only got just over 40 days to be able to handle my job while I’m gone (mainly) and because I can’t really stand to be around her (secondly).

Well, I gave her detailed instructions on how to prepare a report (that should have taken 40 minutes max and yes it really is that easy). It took her 3 hours to complete it yesterday. I was here until 6, and then I basically ended up doing the report for her. All she had to do was change a two numbers and the date range to cover the current reporting period.

Well this morning she is generating another report and it turns out she doesn’t know how to do charts (or she isn’t very familiar with them). She is supposed to be able to cover a somewhat senior level position. She isn't going to be able to do so.

I just don’t get it. If I repeatedly didn’t show up or called in or couldn’t do this stuff, I would have been let go by now.

The best sound in the world

Parents of the world would agree--the best sound in the world is a child's laughter.

I was going through the clutter in our kitchen and living room and M brought his Elmo into the room and climbed into B's lap. M wanted some attention, and B, of course, complied, but by tickling him and rough housing with him. M's laughter and squeals put a smile on my face. I went in and told M, "You know, your laughter is the best sound in the whole world." M just smiled.

M's laughter can make you forget you aren't feeling well (or 8 months pregnant in my case). It just cheers you up. It was definitely what I needed at that moment in time. So, parents, drag a little laughter out of your kid today and revel in it. I promise you, it will ease your ails.

My new vice

OMG, I have found a new vice. I assure you this isn't just because I am pregnant either. I am a Tex-Mex freak under normal circumstances. Well, now Mission has these guacamole tortilla chips. They are to die for. The really just taste a lot like lime flavored tortilla chips They are good just by themselves, however, pair it up with the new Tostitos Monterey Jack Queso and YUMMY!

It took everything I had to stop myself so I would still eat dinner.

Friday ramble and TGIF

As my profile states, I am an oil & gas accountant. More specifically, my background is in crude oil supply and refining. So, I understand the logistics, and I am not surprised by the gasoline prices. As a matter of fact, it might be my understanding that makes me shake my head at the gravity of the Katrina situation as the refineries continue to stay offline.

However, as with other Americans, that doesn't mean that I don't wince when I have to fill up my gas tank. You see, I have a 45 mile one-way commute into the the city to work. My husband works out in the field and has to use his personal vehicle to go on calls. I have a car with a 15 gallon tank that gets approximately 24 mpg on regular. B's vehicle has a 37.5 gallon tank that gets about 18 mpg hwy on regular. So you can just imagine our gasoline bill right now. Granted, B does get reimbursed for his driving, but mind you, this is at the $0.40/mile rate set by the IRS at last year's gas prices.

So, B & I have been discussing the effect of the prices (as I am sure every couple is). If prices get much higher, I might approach my supervisor when she gets back into the office next week about work four 10 hour days as opposed to five 8 hour days. I would check into commuting in with someone from my town, but I also have M with me in the mornings and I drop him off at my mom's for the day. So, commuting is out of the question unless someone is open to his being with us. B & I also discussed how it would be interesting to see whether the tax code is adjusted for the huge spike in prices and just how much more the reimbursement rate will be for mileage for him. Quite frankly, $0.40/mile isn't cutting it.

Also, am I the only one that has felt like this is longest week I've had in a long time? It just seems like it will never end. The feeling really has nothing to do with the crisis blasted on the TV (although seeing the devestation and chaos does contribute). It's just been one of those weeks. Between closing, reports, auditors, training (which GIT has actually been here all week and trained surprisingly well (well better than I had hoped for)), I'm just so glad it's Friday.

It will be nice to just sit at home this weekend and not have to worry about working and auditors and closing and gasoline and all the other stuff. B & I talked about taking M to the Kiddie Park possibly this weekend, as it is the last weekend of the season. Other than that, we also talked about renting a movie or two and just vegging. I'll probably study a little bit this weekend as well.

Yes, you read that right, I will probably be studying a little bit this weekend as well. I know I finally finished with schooling, but I've been seriously thinking about going back and getting my CPA to allow for more working arenas. However, since I have been out of "accounting" school for over 5 years now (there is a difference between going to school in your major and getting an MBA), I thought I would ease back into things. So, I signed up for a tax class through H&R Block to kind of get the ball rolling. So I start classes the 17th. The good thing is that if I pass this class with an 80% or above, I basically have a job during tax season (even PT if I chose). My hope is to do well and get hired and use that money to pay off some bills. And then, next fall I can look at starting to work on my CPA. It's a good idea in theory; hopefully by putting it in writing, I will follow through. So, I will start perusing my textbooks this weekend to prepare for the classes. Sounds fun, huh? (And if you are one of my sorority sisters and you are reading this, I very well might need my head examined because didn't I tell you I was done with school after we finished our MBAs?)

Well, work calls, so I'd better get back to it. Have a safe weekend and God Bless!

Outsourcing, Benadryl, and other gripes

Ok, I understand that companies want to save money by outsourcing. Heck, I am contracting for an outsourcing group. However, as with some companies, the company I work for sent functions like accounts receivable to India.

Apparently, regardless of where in the world you are, companies think that AR individuals should be strictly data entry individuals. They are not supposed to think outside of the box and make educated decisions. I hadn't been in 5 minutes this morning when I was dragged into a chat session with a clerk in India that needed me to tell her how to book an intercompany receipt between cash accounts. Well, my dear, here is the background on why it was done. How would you normally apply a receivable on our books? Duh, I'm tellin' ya. In addition, this clerk contacted the person that used to do my desk. I have been doing this desk for a year and a half. You would think that she would have figured it out by now that I am the one she should contact--not the other individual. She has been told repeatedly. Update your desk procedures for pete's sake if you can't remember off the top of your head.

Yesterday evening, I stopped by a lady's house on the way home to pick up an item she needed to return from when I was selling Avon. It is the last of the returns I have to do. Well, I hadn't taken more than one step out of my car when I stepped in a hole (couldn't see it because the grass was so thick). I fell forward on my knees, hurt my wrist, twisted my ankle.... Well, you get the drift. The right side of my body is so sore.

So, I rubbed myself down with some Blue Emu as best as I could, took some Tylenol, and had B do the areas I couldn't do (my shoulders). Well, it didn't register with him until this morning that I had tripped and fallen (I assured him it was just on my knees; the baby is fine), so I got a verbal admonishment to watch where I was walking. I WAS!

So, here I was already sore, and B's allergies were bothering him very badly so he took two Benadryl last night before bed. Of course, this knocked him out to the world. He spent a lot of the night in the middle of the bed on his back--SNORING! He told me this morning that I should have kicked him and made him roll over. Uh, sorry babe, but I did. As I said, he was dead to the world.

Then, M crawled in bed with us about 3 and of course, B was near the center of the bed and M got between us. Where did that put me? On the edge of the bed, of course. I woke up this morning to find I had my head resting on the bedside table. Now the crick in my neck (which has moved from the left side to the right side in the last week) is worse. I'm very sore today and quite generally in a cranky mood. This also coincides with the first day of the month and closing and more training of GIT.

Anyone have some Calgon they can send my way? Oh, yeah, I forgot that I can't take a bath because the plunger mechanism broke and I have forgotten to get a plug every time I have went to the store.

Is it Friday yet?

Another gripe

As an accountant, you can imagine my love for auditors. Really, though, I have nothing against auditors. I just once again have my “please use your common sense" mentality. How many times do I have to repeat myself to you and show you the same supporting documentation OVER and OVER and link it together. And why do auditors feel the need to “visit” during closing? Um, hello! You are an accountant. You know the books have to be closed, but you pick that week to “visit,” and I have to drop everything I am doing during my closing process to answer a question for you yet again that has already been addressed. And they wonder why we just love them…

Let me do my job when it needs to be done, and I’ll help you do yours, ok?